Hi, I’m Shanelle, and I’m a student at City Tech. I originally attended The Art Institute of Tampa about 6 years ago, where I majored in Interior Design, but fell in love with Graphic Design. I loved all of the amazing work that they were doing, and that was showcased on our school walls. While there I fell in love with type design specifically. I still remember the first time I saw my first piece of typography artwork, it was the image of a person made entirely out of words! I had never seen anything so unique, it amazed me how words could come together so cohesively to create an image! Something so simple had never occurred to me. From then on I became slightly obsessed with everything art + type. I scoured books and the internet for more type art and came to learn that there was a name for it, typography. My world seemed to change from there.
I wouldn’t really say that I was ever influenced or enticed by a particular artist like many are, rather I was enticed by the art itself. I’ve always had a love for words, whether it was journaling, poetry, blogging, or songwriting, and I’ve always loved creativity in almost any form it came in. I guess, Graphic Design felt like a natural leap for me, plus previous work in a printing company only added fuel to the fire. Printed material is also something I find fascinating and intriguing. I love not only seeing designs come to life, but also the substrates. I love to know the paper it’s on, the finish of the laminate (if any is used, personally the soft touch laminate is my favorite), the feel and look of the paper – uncoated, coated, woven, pearlescent – the possibilities are endless, as are they endlessly intriguing to me.
Some people know where they are headed with their COMD degree, however, I am not one of them. Why? Because possibilities really are endless, and I want to do many different things. I’d love to get into freelancing, possibly working for a print company again, package design, my own business endeavors, and more. To me, pursuing this degree gives me hope in a time where hope is a fleeting commodity.
